Little Mommy

Brooklyn is OBSESSED with babies! It's funny what an innate attraction she has to them compared to our two boys. Here she is holding our friends' baby, who is almost bigger than she is. Anytime she sees a baby she runs up and tries to hug, kiss, pet, soothe, and hold him/her. She's helpful, but almost too helpful. She was on the baby lookout yesterday at church. As soon as she spotted a baby she would yell, "Hi Baby! Hi!" over and over again. She knows their names and when we pass by their houses she tells us where they live. Obsessed! She is a good little mommy in training.

Better Late than Never

I'm a little behind the times in getting these pictures posted. These guys absolutely loved Halloween this year...the candy, costumes, parties, everything!We borrowed this pink poodle costume from Brooklyn's cousin. I'm glad we didn't buy a costume because Brooklyn wore it for maybe a total of 5 minutes. She only wanted to trick-or-treat in her t-shirt and flip flops. Crazy girl!

Our cool clone trooper really got into the holiday. I got to help out with a party in Logan's classroom, and here he is in a parade through the school. It was all about the candy for him.

Our poor middle child...I realized when we got home from trick-or-treating and the kids had changed that I never got a picture of Caden in his costume. I begged him to put it back on for a picture, and this is as good as it gets. Funny pirate!

Stitches...Round 2

As we were getting ready to leave Grandma and Grandpa Taggart's house the other night, the kids got a little crazy and were running around with their cousins. I was about to say, "Settle down" and "Let's go!" when they ran into the living room and one of the cousins accidentally pushed Caden into a table that was holding a ceramic rose. One of the petals jabbed into Caden's cheek, leaving a pretty deep wound. We knew he'd need stitches so we left the other kids with Aunt Julie. We had to stop at home for a minute and decided to stop by our neighbor's house, who is a PA, to ask his opinion. He agreed that we'd need stitches and went above and beyond by offering to go with us to his clinic and do the stitches himself. It was late, so the only place that would have been open was the ER. It sure put Caden at ease to know that his friends' dad would be taking care of him, instead of a stranger. Thank you Matt! This was Caden's second time having stitches (pushed by brother the first time, just 6 months ago). He was petrified the first time, but he was so calm and brave this time. The best part of this experience happened when we got home. Logan had been crying and was so worried about Caden. He and the cousins drew cute pictures for Caden. Logan hugged Caden and told him how much he loved him. It was so sweet to see this tender side of our normally tough boys. They do love each other after all!

Happy Birthday Caden!

Caden turned 4 on Friday. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up! We had a busy weekend and Caden loved every minute of it. His friends, Rylan and Ethan, also have birthdays on the same day, so we had a big Halloween Party for them and some of their friends. Grandma and Grandpa Stott and Aunt Kim and Uncle Jason came up from Utah for the weekend, and spoiled the kids, of course. We also had the rest of the family over on Saturday for another birthday celebration. Caden asked me, "When I turn 4 can I still have my funny blankie?" I thought it was cute that as much as he wants to grow up, there's still a bit of a little boy in there that likes his blankie and chocolate milk.

Caden loves everything Star Wars! He was very excited about his light saber and other toys.
My attempt at making a pirate cake almost failed at the last minute. I held the cake together as we sang so it wouldn't fall apart!
We love our little pirate. He is so fun-loving and tender-hearted. His favorite things are animals, bugs, digging in the dirt, Star Wars, pirates, super heroes, and sports. He is quick to laugh or make us laugh and loves to wrestle with his brother and Daddy.

The Things They Say...

Today Caden came to me and said, "I'm hungry. Can I have a grand crapper?" I laughed to myself as I found him a graham cracker. I hope you're not offended by the "strong" language, but I thought that was too cute not to share. I don't think I'll ever think of graham crackers without smiling again.

Soccer in the Snow

We knew we'd have to gear up for Logan's soccer game today. We heard there was a chance of snow, so we bundled up in our coats, gloves, hats, and layers of clothes and headed to the game. I forgot how long it takes to bundle everyone up! The wind was nearly blowing us over when we got there, but at least it wasn't snowing. Logan and his teammates were such troopers, taking off their coats to play and never complaining of the cold. We told Logan to run around A LOT, so he wouldn't freeze. Shortly into the game, the snow came. The kids were so excited and distracted by it that we had to keep reminding them to play the game. They were catching snowflakes on their tongues and slipping and falling all over the place. Brooklyn was tired and frozen--a bad combination! Luckily Caden kept himself busy on the playground with some friends. Is it possible to go back to Arizona just for the soccer/football season? I wouldn't mind that weather right now. Logan only has one game left, but this is just the beginning for us. I'm sure we have hundreds of games yet to go to over the next 15+ years. We better learn to grin and bear it... and wear snowsuits next time.

Family Fun

We went to Teton Spectrum Raceway last night to celebrate the birthday of one of our friends. The kids had never been there before and they had a blast!

Brooklyn was obsessed with the race car video game. We didn't even have to put any quarters in and she was perfectly content.

The boys loved the inflatable toys. We were amazed at how quickly they maneuvered through the obstacle courses and went up and down the slide.

Brandon used Brooklyn as an excuse to go on the slide. I think he enjoyed it even more than he let on!

This was Logan's first time on a go-cart. Somehow he knew just what to do and avoided crashing into the wall and his friends.

Little Miss Independent

At 20 months, Brooklyn already thinks she can do it all. Once she gets something in her mind, there's no changing it! We went to Target yesterday and I decided to buy her some new shirts. I showed her what I had picked out and she took off her shirt right there and was determined to wear a new one. She even took out her bow! I tried to put her shirt back on and she threw a fit, much to the chagrin of all the mothers passing by. We then went to Michael's and while I was checking out at the register, she was determined to leave. I kept telling her to come back, but she went through the first set of double doors while I was in the middle of paying. She stopped to look at the Halloween decorations and just as I approached her she put her hand in an empty Halloween candy bowl. Suddenly a skeleton hand emerged from the bowl and she ran away screaming! I picked her up and brought her back to show her what it was. I put my hand in the bowl, thinking that seeing it the second time would be funny to her rather than scary. I was wrong! She cried and pulled away as fast as she could. It was hilarious! I decided that maybe next time she'll think twice before going off on her own again...Wishful thinking.

More Milestones

Caden loves preschool! It's nice for him to have something to do while big brother is in kindergarten. He's making some new friends and he loves his teacher. Every day he's excited to tell us about everything he's done.
There are 6 boys and just 1 girl in Caden's class!
He's growing up so fast! Last week Caden reached another milestone...he rode his bike without training wheels! Ever since Logan learned at the beginning of summer, Caden has been begging to take off his training wheels. I finally told him I'd work with him a few weeks ago. He sat on Logan's old bike and I steadied the bike as he rode. After 15 minutes he decided to go back to his bike with training wheels because it was too hard. I figured that was the end of that. Wrong! Over the next several days he would sit on Logan's bike and push himself along. One day without notice he just took off! I couldn't believe our 3-year old was riding to the end of the street so quickly, and that he had taught himself. Way to go Caden!

Our Big Kindergartner

Logan was so excited for his first day of school! I wasn't sure how I would hold up as we dropped him off in the morning. I started to get a little choked up, but I fought off the tears and put on my brave face. I was proud of myself, but more importantly, I was very proud of him. He came home that day with so many things to tell us. He loves learning! I can't believe how quickly he's growing up!

Logan lines up behind his friend, Landon, who is a head taller than him. Most of the kids in his class are friends from our neighborhood.

She's Growing Up!

Brooklyn went to her first friend birthday party today. The boys and I stayed so she wasn't on her own. All the kids swam and played in the dirt/mud. Anything messy and they have a blast! They even had cupcakes. Good thing we were outside! The boys weren't sure about eating on the princess plates. Logan said, "Do you think they have any boy plates?"

Brooklyn is so brave when it comes to water that she just climbed head first into the water and got stuck on the edge of the pool with her head under water for a few seconds, giving me a scare! We got her up and she seemed unphased by the whole thing. Later as we were eating cupcakes I could tell that she was tired. She kept nodding off, then waking up to take another bite of cupcake. Finally, the sleep won out and she was there on my lap with pink frosting all over her face and hands. It would have made a great picture! All that fun wore her out.

Our Utah Trip

After being without a camera for a few weeks, I am finally posting some pictures from our trip to Utah a month ago. We were there for my cousin's wedding and a Taggart family reunion.

Following the wedding, Brooklyn ran over to this fountain area, where the water sporadically shot up out of the ground. She thought it was great, running from one fountain to the next and trying to get a drink of water.

This was our first trip as a family to Lagoon. The boys had a blast! We had fun watching them have fun all day. Brandon and I did get a chance to go on one rollercoaster--"Wicked". We were nervous to try it because it takes you straight up and straight down and every other which way, but we loved it.

We had a picnic and played in the water at Liberty Park. The kids had fun with their cousin, Ahna. They were hesitant to get in the water and get their faces wet. The bravest of all was Brooklyn. She jumped right in their with all the big kids. It was hilarious! She is our little water baby and dare devil. She keeps us on our toes!

Always our favorite part of going to Utah is spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Stott. Caden calls them "The far away grandma and grandpa". Here we are at Temple Square with Grandma. We spent a day downtown seeing the church sites and riding Trax.

Our Camping Adventure

We went camping at Calamity with my brother, Mike, his wife, Jessica, and our little neice, Ahna. We had a beautiful spot, overlooking Palisades Reservoir. Here we attempted a 1/2 mile hike with the kids!

Ahna and Brooklyn are just 6 months apart. It was fun watching them play together on this trip. They are quickly becoming great buddies.

Brooklyn is queen of the rock. This was her first time camping and she loved it. She chased the other kids around and thought she was so big. She loves to be independent.

Poor Caden had a bad reaction to a mosquito bite. Half of his head was swollen to the point he could hardly open his eye. He was such a trooper, never once complaining. It must have looked worse than it felt. Luckily it's back to normal now.

Logan was so enthusiastic about this trip. He would wake up early in the morning and yell, "I love camping! This is so much fun." He probably woke up everyone around us with his excitement.

The kids gave this trip two big thumbs up. After packing up our camp, we headed to Heise Hot Springs and swam (and washed off all our dirt!), then had some delicious pizza at the pizza parlor before heading home.

Fun at the Park

There is a park at the ball field which kept Brooklyn entertained. She thinks she's so big, riding the horse. If you look close enough you can see a very tiny attempt at a ponytail. It's slowly getting there!

Caden is Traveling to Salt Lake in a Submarine!

Everyday he takes all of the pillows off our bed and makes a submarine. He gets Sasha and makes her be his traveling mate. Today we were in the Great Salt Lake, headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was amazing how many sharks and octopi we saw there! I had no idea!